Charlotte Airport Ownership Bill Passes House Committee | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Dan Way, an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    RALEIGH     House Republicans presented a newly minted version of a Senate bill to transfer ownership of Charlotte Douglas International Airport from the City of Charlotte to a regional authority, but opponents presented old arguments that have dogged the measure since it was first introduced in the Senate.

    After nearly an hour of debate on Tuesday featuring sharp and competing claims of whether the city was cooperating with the bill sponsors in trying to resolve sticking points, the House Transportation Committee approved Senate Bill 81 by voice vote and sent it to the Finance Committee.

    Rep. William Brawley, R-Mecklenburg, who presented the bill to the committee, said it now includes revisions intended to clarify language and address prior complaints. But ownership transfer, he said, remains vital to protect the "economic engine" of the airport and to avoid it being used as a cash cow by the city.

    Committee members opposing an immediate vote on the bill downplayed the findings of a consultant's study done specifically at the request of Charlotte City Council, as action on the bill was delayed to accommodate the analysis. The study concluded that a regional authority would be the best option for airport operation.

    "We have had some conversations with the City of Charlotte . . . but right now we're at a point of an impasse," Brawley said. He, Rep. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg, and House Speaker Thom Tillis spoke earlier this week with Charlotte representatives to no avail, he said.

    "The other side is totally unwilling to work with us," Samuelson said. She said she was "surprised" when "there was zero" cooperation from Charlotte City Council representatives discussing with the trio their recommendations for further study of contentious issues.

    "We're still willing to do that," Samuelson said.

    "I want the committee to know that the City of Charlotte is interested in continuing to have discussions and negotiations to resolve the future of the airport in the most amicable and most businesslike way," said Charlotte City Manager Ron Carlee. "We're not prepared to declare an impasse."

    Rep. Becky Carney, D-Mecklenburg, told committee members not to "bank votes" on the consultant's study because there is a lot of data independent of that. She said many questions remain unanswered, such as employee status with a conversion, and a variety of transition issues that could spawn "unintended consequences as we roll forward."

    "Why would we not want to be good stewards as the representatives of the people of this state to take the time, to take us a step further," and continue to study the bill, she said. Her lengthy questioning culminated with committee chairman Frank Iler, R-Brunswick, asking her if her next question would be the last.

    "If you muzzle me," replied Carney, whose husband, Gene Carney, recently retired as assistant aviation director of the airport.

    "As we know, the City of Charlotte has nourished that airport for 70 years," said Rep. Rodney Moore, D-Mecklenburg. "This bill cuts the guts out of the City of Charlotte. ... This is no more than a takeover or grab from the City of Charlotte to a region that historically has not had any skin in the game."

    Brawley said the latest offer was to create a joint legislative study committee comprising House, Senate, and Charlotte City Council voting delegates, with a final report to be delivered to the General Assembly in May 2014, with implementation that July.

    The interim study group would determine the authority's structure, membership selection, transition tasks, and how to divide airport operations between the city and outsourced vendors.

    The city's counter offer was to appoint a blue-ribbon commission comprised of business leaders in Mecklenburg County to determine "what changes in structure if any should be implemented," Brawley said.

    Gerry Cohen, legislative special counsel, said the House version of the bill reduces the regional authority's governing board from 13 to 11 members. There are provisions for transfer of the airport property and consideration and compensation for the city, he said.

    "Whatever benefits [employees] have would carry over," including retirement, Cohen said, but health insurance now provided by the city would have to be worked out.

    The revised bill clarifies language that "appeared to give the new airport authority the power to take over or establish airports in all the surrounding counties," Cohen said. An airport's governing board and county commissioners would have to approve any such move, Cohen said.

    Rep. Larry Pittman, R-Cabarrus, said Concord officials were concerned the city-owned Concord airport could be taken over.

    Rep. Dana Bumgardner, R-Gaston, said the airport in Gastonia was built from city funds and the city is concerned about losing its investment under this bill.

    "There is no authority to acquire property, take over an airport, or operate an airport, or do anything in Gaston County without the permission of local leaders," Brawley said. "We're not going to take their airport."

    Brawley said with a nearby intermodal facility nearing completion, now is the time to install a regional authority, as recommended for airports and intermodal facilities by former Democratic Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton as part of a study whose members were appointed by former Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue.

    A regional authority spanning six counties would provide a larger base of legislative support, he said.

    "The airport should not be seen as a source of revenue for the City of Charlotte," he said, because average airline industry profits are 21 cents per passenger per flight, with US Airways at 37 cents. Still, margins are slim, and increases in charges for nonessential services by the city "could endanger the health of the hub."

    Brawley said within the past year Charlotte has floated the idea of putting a tax on airport parking and using that revenue for other sources, and a more recent study committee envisioned possible use of airport revenues and subsidies to help pay for operations of a proposed street car.

    The city's consultant "came back with a lot of recommendations on how an authority should be structured, but was of the opinion that for the long-term health of the airport a regional authority was the best answer," Brawley said.

    "The consultant did say that an authority was likely, and I emphasize the term likely, to be the best governance in the future," Carlee said.

    "But the consultant also said that the Charlotte airport was the most unlikely city-operated airport for consideration of an authority, remembering that as a city department, this airport is the lowest-cost" among the largest hubs in the nation, Carlee said. "Seven of the 10 lowest-cost and seven of the 10 largest hubs are, in fact, city departments."

    Chuck Allen, managing director of government affairs at US Airways, said the airline is neutral on the authority issue.

    "We have purposely stated publicly that we have taken no side in this debate," Allen said. "Our issue is the continued management philosophy of the airport. It is the lowest cost airport because of the management philosophy. And that is what we want to see continued."